HMV Treated Consumers Badly

This week I spoke in the Seanad about the situation with HMV:

“I would like to express my sincere disappointment at the anti-consumer practices which have been engaged in by the HMV Group in Ireland over the last number of days. Going back to mid-December, we can see that they clearly communicated that they would not be in a position to pay off their outstanding loans this January and April and, as such, administration would have to be considered as an option. Nevertheless, they continued selling vouchers. Indeed, on the very day that their administration was announced – while the press releases were being written to announce it – HMV on Grafton Street was still selling gift vouchers. Vouchers that they knew, in a few hours time, would be worthless.”

“These are the actions which betray the trust of consumers, these are the actions that undermine confidence in the economy and in business in general, and these actions are – frankly – those of a company that has acted in a way that I consider to be wrong. As such, I would call on the Director for Corporate Enforcement to look into this issue as a matter of urgency.”